Exception

XIV. Run

"Stop asking if you already know the answer. You're just wasting time."

Inseong smiled and hurried to follow Jaeyoon out of the glass doors.

For the next twenty minutes or so, Jaeyoon followed the three mysterious shadows on the floor of his visions until they arrived a small alleyway. He instantly felt dizzy when his eyes turned back to a normal colour, but Inseong was all prepared so he reached out and steadied Jaeyoon. "You okay?"

Jaeyoon nodded tentatively and tried standing upright on his own, only to lose his balance and fall back into Inseong's hands again. He blushed and mumbled a "thank you", remembering their awkward exchange in the car this early afternoon.

Inseong tried to ignore the fact that his heart has started hammering against his ribs again and focused on his task at hand instead. "Did you see something here?"

"Yes," Jaeyoon said, glad for the distraction too. "The three of them 'reappeared' right here. I think one of them had the invisibility power, and he caused other people to turn invisible by holding hands, but I can't be sure."

"So they're not invisible now?"

Jaeyoon shook his head.

"Good. Then let's bring you home." Before Jaeyoon could protest, Inseong continued, "Leave the rest to the police; they can ask for CCTV footage around the area, now that they are actually visible. We'll find out which bank they're heading to and arrest them once and for all."

It had started to rain so they rushed back to the car and headed back to their temporarily shared home. Inseong notified his trusty partner about their new discovery, hoping that his team could work quick enough to locate the perpetrators before they can cause harm to more people.

Jaeyoon was feeling better now, but still tired that he collapsed onto the couch once they entered the apartment. Inseong was about to head to the kitchen to bring him a cup of water when he remembered something important. He turned back and asked, "Back in the alleyway, Daehyun was there, right? With Storm Intruder?"

Jaeyoon sat up straighter. "Yes... do you also think..."

Inseong scrunched his nose with frustration. "We still don't have solid proof, but I think what you've seen is enough for us to at least inform the ones close to him, in case they get hurt."

"You mean... Youngjae?"

-

"Youngjae, your phone's ringing!"

The young barista whipped around at the sound of his name, in the midst of serving two cups of creamy lattes and a chocolate muffin. "Hold on!" He hastily placed down the orders and manoeuvred through the tables, avoiding the unending flow of waiters who were going in and out of the kitchen. The café had been overcrowded recently, thanks to a famous blogger who visited a few days ago and posted recommendations on her website. Youngjae hadn't even been able to sit down to take a breath the whole day!

The new part timer took the empty tray from Youngjae and passed him his phone. "Thank you so much, Haneul. I won't take long." Then he rushed to the storage room for privacy and answered the call.

"Hello, Inseong."

"Do you have a minute to talk?"

The seriousness in his tone caught Youngjae's attention. "Is something wrong?" Inseong kept quiet for a moment, so Youngjae repeated himself. "Inseong, what happened?"

"Youngjae, listen to everything I have to say before you ask any questions, okay? I'm not trying to scare you... it's just... I need you to be prepared. And also... don't panic."

Inseong started telling Youngjae everything about what he and Jaeyoon saw earlier today, everything about the Storm Intruder, and how Daehyun seemed to be involved in the recent robbery cases.

Two minutes later.

"Youngjae, Youngjae! Don't hang up—"

Youngjae hung up and flung the storage room door open, almost hitting Haneul in the face. "Youngjae, where are you—" Before he could finish, he was pushed to the side and Youngjae ran out of the café, ignoring the glances from his startled customers.

Outside, in the fresh air, it took him less than five seconds to punch in the phone number that he knew like the back of his hand. When the call went through, Youngjae felt a surge of hope.

"Hello?"

"Dae, it's me. I, I have something to ask you, can we meet up?"

"I'm sorry, but I told you I have work today, didn't I? I think I'm not going to be free until late at night. How 'bout tomorrow?"

"Daehyun, I really need to talk to you now."

"Youngjae, what's wrong—" Daehyun paused abruptly, a muffled argument in the background filling the silence. A door slammed and it was quiet again. "I'm really sorry, but I got to go now. I'll see you tomorrow."

And then the line was dead.